“Phat air meets wide gauge” meets color

September 17, 2013

I liked it, but I thought it could use some color, so I hacked a crude version in GIMP and sent it to Mark with a, “Hey, please put this on a t-shirt so I can throw money at you” plea. Lo and behold, he did just that.

You can get your own from Mark’s Zazzle store. And apparently he will have more sauropod-themed merch coming soon.

6 Responses to ““Phat air meets wide gauge” meets color”

I have determined that in order to drink water without their proximal-most cervical vertebra buckling, they had to drink very carefully. Let us imagine happening upon a trio of Alasmosaurus perched at water’s edge on their tails and heels like three-legged stools, thumb-claws scratching their hips, heads plunged vertically into the water like elephants’ trunks.

Before you object, you tell me what all that ventral caudal musculature was for, if not to tip them back upright, afterward.

I assume you’re joking, but for the benefit of any newcomers: sauropods and most other non-avian dinosaurs had big tails in part because of the caudofemoralis muscle, which provided most of the power stroke for the hindlimb in walking and running. Most mammals have dinky tails because we shifted our femur-retracting muscles from our tails to our hips. For more about the caudofemoralis, check out this great post on dinosaur butts.

Other things a sauropod could do with a powerful caudofemoralis besides walk:
– with the feet planted, and firing the muscle only on one side, swing the tail;
– rear up on its hind legs;
– climb (i.e., walk up rugged terrain, not brachiate through the trees);
– push forward forcefully, which might have been useful in dominance contests or for shoving trees over.